Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information he holds on how many people fleeing persecution or extreme violence in (a) the Middle East and (b) North Africa have been offered temporary residence and respite in (a) the United Arab Emirates, (b) Kuwait, (c) Qatar and (d) Saudi Arabia in the last 12 months.

The UK actively engages with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, on humanitarian and development assistance. The Gulf States are not signatories to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951, and there is no legal refugee status in these countries. However, the Gulf States continue to contribute generously to humanitarian support for the Syria crisis and we recognise and welcome the substantial contribution made by Gulf states to the humanitarian aid response for Syria and the numbers of Syrians already in the Gulf. The Gulf states are now home to almost one million Syrians, and have pledged more than $3 billion in humanitarian assistance. Kuwait co-hosted the London Donor Conference in February 2016 where Gulf states pledged $739 million.